The LAUSD Board was in the unusual position Tuesday of evaluating a new charter petition for a school that’s already serving more 1000 kids in grades TK-12, many of whom are gay and lesbian students that had been bullied at district schools.

Despite impassioned pleas from students, teachers and administrators, as well as a Hail Mary attempt to authorize the school for just one year, the LAUSD Board ultimately sided with the LAUSD staff recommendation to deny the petition for iLEAD San Fernando Valley.

School administrators vowed to appeal the decision to the Los Angeles County Office of Education in hopes that students at the school will not have to find a new home. “We are not the normal new petition,” said Farnaz Kaufman, director of iLEAD Encino. “We are already operating with strong fiscal performance and governance. To shut our schools down today over no actual wrongdoing would be heart-wrenching.”

The proposed iLEAD school would have combined three iLEAD schools already operating in Encino, Van Nuys and Pacoima that blend onsite and online independent learning. The schools, currently authorized by Acton-Agua Dulce Unified, were forced to submit a new charter petition because of a state court ruling specifying that schools must be located in the same district that authorizes them.

The LAUSD Charter Schools Division recommended denial because of concerns over the school’s governance structure and potential conflicts of interest. Administrators at the schools, however, said they were willing to change their governance structure and asked Board members to place more weight on their track record than “potential” concerns.

“We don’t have potential families here. We have real children, and their real education is at risk today,” said Dave Trejo, director of iLEAD Pacoima. “There is no conflict of interest that is real…We have already operated for three years with clean financial audits. Do not punish this community for a potential issue when our real track record is clean.”

Renato Lira, head of the San Fernando Valley LGBT Community Center, pleaded with Board members to save the school, which he told Speak UP serves many LGBT kids who had been “bullied and attacked” at other LAUSD schools.

“If you guys don’t approve this school, those kids can become suicide students,” he said. “This is a safe haven. This is a school where they can be who they are.”

Board Vice President Nick Melvoin (BD4) – the only Board member who had actually visited one of the iLEAD schools -- was sympathetic to those concerns and proposed an amendment to authorize it for one year only and give it a chance to resolve concerns over the school’s governance. Board Member Ref Rodriguez (BD5) also voted in favor of authorizing the school for one year.

No other Board members backed that idea, though. Board Member Kelly Gonez (BD6) expressed concerns over poor academic performance and reclassification rates of English learners, as well as demographics that did not reflect the broader community. “It’s an equity issue,” she said. “I can’t stand by that.”

Melvoin, however, said the district needs to take a hard look in the mirror at why so many families – especially LGBT youth -- do not feel safe in district schools. “These are families that didn’t find home in LA Unified,” he said. “Why aren’t we providing homes for these kids?”

The mission of Speak UP is to engage, educate and activate parents and community members to advocate for excellent, equitable public education at their children’s schools, in their communities, with elected representatives and at the ballot box.